Why Travel?

CEBU, Philippines – Travel provides great leisure – and good education as well. As one goes out of his home comforts, he gets a chance to stretch both his personal sphere and sphere of experience. His concept of life is generally enhanced.

Momentarily leaving home and taking a break from one’s usual routine help the person in many ways. Even if it costs some time and money, the benefits to gain often compensate the expenditure. It would seem, to many, that travelling is essentially part of the very purpose of man’s existence on the planet. 

We all only live once, and passing up the chance to travel is like letting life pass us by. The website www.askmen.com cites several reasons why traveling is a good activity to take:

Traveling gives an opportunity to relax and de-stress. It decreases burnout. Even if it is a business trip that puts one in the vortex of meetings and conferences, being in a different place – especially in a different country – makes it all less stressful. Perhaps the only stress to have is hopping from one site to the next if it’s a packaged tour, trying to understand a different language or culture, or getting around a busy foreign metropolis. But such stress is  positive stress, not the kind caused by real tension at work, at home.

As the saying goes, “A change is as good as a rest.” A trip, of any type, provides a break from the usual, which alone can bring about renewed energy. It is therapeutic to take a breather from the daily routine – it prevents the person from stagnating.

When traveling, one is not likely to be confined inside an office or room. There are more opportunities to go out; thus enjoying the fresh air outdoors. A stroll to the restaurant or the nearby park is good exercise. More so, hiking up to a tourist site on a mountain. For relaxation, lazing in a hammock on the beach, relishing in the sweet scent of the breeze. On a bright day, the early-morning or late-afternoon sun provides good vitamin for the skin and bones. 

Travel involves activities that compel one to move about. In organized tours, for instance, there are often adventure and sports activities included in the schedule, like whitewater rafting, sightseeing, playing beach volleyball etc. or the mere sightseeing tour on foot is already good physical activity. The traveler is not likely to be spending all his time inside the hotel room.

There’s, of course, different foods to try in different places: sushi, moussaka, gumbo or couscous. It is necessarily a thing for dieters, and the temporary stop to the calorie counting, but the poundage gained are surely compensated many times over by the exciting experience. Unless it’s in a cruise or at an all-inclusive resort, a trip is a good opportunity to taste new delights.

When in a new environment, one is likely to exercise a certain degree of self-restraint and consideration. Once on a trip, it won’t be long before one begins to discover and gain new perspectives. Aside of course that traveling puts one face to face with different cultures and lifestyles to better appreciate and enjoy. In the process, his intellectual and even spiritual horizons are broadened.

As a traveler get to discover more of the world, he is also going to meet more people. Thus, his social life is enhanced. In interacting with different people of different personal and cultural backgrounds he becomes more genial.

In going to a place that one had been wanting to visit, he gets to gain a great sense of fulfillment. He spares himself from possible regrets later in life for not having done so. And while there, he is apt to make the most of his time and have new discoveries about himself.

There is no question about the many benefits that traveling offers. It can bring good health, to both body and mind.

And it does not necessarily have to take crossing national borders to experience another place, another culture, and expand one’s horizons and grasp of the world. Any distance is good enough, so long as it provides a break to one’s customary surroundings and view of life. The next town can be as interesting as the faraway country – maybe differently interesting, but interesting no less.